3 Myths About Fertility You Need to Know

Obie Editorial Team

There are hundreds of thousands of articles and tips about how to be a more fertile woman. Some are packed with helpful advice, including tips on eating right, exercising, monitoring vaginal discharge and keeping track of menstrual cycles. But, there are also a number of myths out there that do nothing but cause undue tension and increased stress. Stress is one of the causes of infertility because it can alter the normal menstrual cycle. Here are three fertility myths all women should know. 

After 35 your baby will have a chromosomal disorder. This is completely and utterly untrue. As the female body ages, eggs age and there is an increased risk of certain chromosomal conditions, like Down syndrome. However, women over the age of 35 give birth to healthy babies all the time. One of the trends in the United States, as a matter of fact, is waiting until later in life to start a family. Women well into their 40s are just as apt to have healthy infants as women in their 20s. 

Eat yams and you’ll have twins. This is a funny one, but it does have some theoretical backing. In Nigeria, about 45 out of 1,000 births are fraternal twins. Nigerian people eat tons of yams, so the theory popped up that eating yams must increase the chance of having twins. There are two problems with this theory. First, the rate of twins differs among ethnicities, so not all Nigerians have an increased rate of twin births. Second, in the United States, the yellow potatoes we like to call yams are not really yams at all. Yams are actually almost white. 

All infertility problems can be solved by medicine. This, unfortunately, is also a myth. There are medical conditions that cause infertility that cannot be treated. In these cases, adoption, surrogacy and other options for parenthood are the best option. 

What is the silliest fertility myth you’ve ever thought of?